10 June 2015

The Entire History of the Nation in Just a Word or Two From 24 Different Presidents

R. Luke Dubois has created a fascinating way to see which words the presidents used most frequently in their state of the union addresses here. It's like candy for a political nerd like me.

Ronald Reagan's Most Frequently Used Words in SOTU

Here is a list of (some of) the presidents most commonly used word (or in some cases, top two or three). It is like a single word tweet for the defining issue of their time, a fascinatingly succinct way to review the history of centuries and the focus of their administration.

George Washington: Gentlemen (a lovely bit of civility to a group of rebels who'd just defeated the world's greatest empire)

Madison: Enemy (the battle of 1812 took place during his presidency, the only time the White House was occupied by enemy soldiers)

James Monroe: Parties (the emergence of political parties had become a new reality for the young country)

Andrew Jackson: Bank (Jackson dissolved the Central Bank and it would be decades before the Federal Reserve would replace it)

Tyler: Texas (added to the nation during his term)

Polk: Oregon, California (soon after his term these became new states)

Taylor: Empire (apparently this process of adding territories like Oregon and California got a little intoxicating)

Buchanan: Slavery (an issue that would drive the country to civil war soon after he left office)

Lincoln: Emancipation (an issue resolved - sort of)

US Grant: Products, education (emergence of mass manufacturing and need for better education for new economy)

Rutherford Hayes: Coinage, dollar (debates about how to increase supply of money to match the increased supply of products)

Arthur: Merchandise (trying to sell the products to people with coins and dollars)

Harrison: Wages (emergence of jobs and the popularization of working for other people rather than working as independent farmers and artisans)

Teddy Roosevelt: Corporations (the newly dominant and powerful institution at the dawn of the 20th century), Railroads, Wage

Hoover: Unemployment (the Great Recession hits)

FDR: Democratic, Unity, Allies (We are all in this together, from WWII to economic recovery)

Truman: Soviet (now that the Nazis are gone,this is our new threat)

Eisenhower: Nuclear (and in case you were unclear about it, this is specifically how they threaten us in this new Cold War)

LBJ: Vietnam (where the US lost its first war and where Johnson lost his presidency)

Nixon: Truly (truly ironic given his own tapes revealed the depth of his deceit), Environment (this is the man who signed the EPA into law)

Ford: Barrels, crude, gas (from the year before he took to the year he left office, oil prices more than doubled - which raised inflation and unemployment)